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Statistical physics

The salesman and the tourist

Nature volume 413, pages 373–374 (2001)Cite this article

Solutions to optimization problems, such as that faced by the travelling salesman, have many practical applications. Might a related problem offer insight into the behaviour of foraging animals?

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Figure 1: The travelling tourist problem.
Figure 2: A wandering albatross looking for food.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Center for Polymer Studies and Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, 02215, Massachusetts, USA

    H. Eugene Stanley & Sergey V. Buldyrev

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  1. H. Eugene Stanley
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  2. Sergey V. Buldyrev
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Stanley, H., Buldyrev, S. The salesman and the tourist. Nature 413, 373–374 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35096668

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